zaterdag 27 juni 2009

Iran 294

Reza Aslan and I published this article in foreignpolicy.com yesterday.

The End of the Beginning?


http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/06/26/the_end_of_the_beginning

BY TRITA PARSI, REZA ASLAN | JUNE 26, 2009

Iran's popular uprising, which began after the June 12 election, may be heading for a premature ending. In many ways, the Ahmadinejad government has succeeded in transforming what was a mass movement into dispersed pockets of unrest. Whatever is now left of this mass movement is now leaderless, unorganized -- and under the risk of being hijacked by groups outside Iran in pursuit of their own political agendas.

In 1999, students in Iran demonstrated against the closing of reformist newspapers. The unrest lasted a few days and was brutally suppressed. The demonstrators were almost exclusively students. No other segments of society joined their ranks in any meaningful numbers. With their limited appeal to other segments of society, the demonstrators failed to grow in numbers and attain their political objectives.

The demonstrations following the Iranian election on June 12 share few if any characteristics of the student uprising of 1999. What we have witnessed taking place in Iran is a mass movement attracting supporters from all walks of life, all demographics, all classes, and even all political backgrounds. Even supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have expressed discomfort with the developments in Iran, arguing that they voted for Ahmadinejad because they thought he would be a better president, and not because he would be a better dictator.

Indeed, the post-election demonstrations have neither been an uprising of intellectuals and students nor die-hard anti-regime elements from northern Tehran. Instead, the masses that poured in the streets included large numbers of people who often have been loyal to the Iranian government and who in many ways have a stake in its survival. (We can call them Iran's political middle, or its swing voters.) This is precisely why this movement has constituted such a threat to the Iranian government -- not once since 1979 has such an alliance of Iranians come together.

Knowing very well that the opposition's ability to attract Iranians of all backgrounds constituted a major threat to the government, the Iranian authorities moved quickly to peel away layer after layer of people from the movement to reduce it to a much smaller and more manageable core of regime -- not Ahmadinejad -- opponents. The Ahmadinejad government's tactics were predictable: It combined a most brutal clampdown on protesters with propaganda alleging that the opposition movement was orchestrated by foreign elements and exiled opposition groups.

The Mousavi camp sought to counteract these measures and retain its ability to attract a diverse array of Iranians by grounding its slogans and resistance in the language and symbolism of the revolution itself. Mousavi, in a direct challenge to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, presented himself and the movement as the guardians of the revolution, and protesters in the street recycled slogans from the 1979 era, including the chant "Allahu Akbar."

Although successful at first, the discipline has clearly broken down. This should be no surprise -- the movement is by now in effect leaderless. A source close to Mousavi says that the first and second circle of people around Mousavi have all been arrested or put under house arrest. Mousavi himself has limited ability to communicate with his team and his followers. The lack of leadership is visible on the streets, where demonstrators exhibit unparalleled will and courage, but lack direction and guidance.

Indeed, the lack of organization and execution is perhaps the most convincing evidence that the anti-Ahmadinejad movement is completely homegrown and void of any attempt to emulate the velvet revolutions of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. What is driving people to the streets is their sense of frustration and anger -- not a well-devised plan and training in clever nonviolent resistance techniques.

The leadership vacuum does not bode well for the movement's prospects of success, particularly when it comes to attracting those Iranian swing-voters to its side once more. And this creates openings for external meddling -- just not the kind you think.

Exiled opposition groups, whose political agenda sharply differs from that of the protesters in Iran -- indeed, many of these groups urged people not to vote in the elections -- have sought to fill the vacuum left by a beheaded and directionless indigenous movement. Though the outrage of these exiled groups against the Iranian government’s brutal violence is genuine, their efforts to impose themselves on the political scene have caused great frustration among opposition elements inside Iran. At a time when the movement in Iran is paralyzed, efforts by exiled groups -- groups that scorned the protesters only weeks ago for choosing to participate in the elections -- to fill the leadership vacuum are viewed as nothing less than a maneuver to hijack the movement.

This is playing right into the hands of the Ahmadinejad government, precisely because it would weaken, if not eliminate, the indigenous movement's trump card: its ability to attract the Iranian swing-voters back to its side. If the exiled opposition groups and their neo-conservative backers in the United States prevail in aiding the Ahmadinejad government, what started out as the largest Iranian mass movement since 1979 may end up as little more than the student demonstrations of 1999. Which is to say, an instance of hopes raised, then dashed.


Trita Parsi is president of the National Iranian American Council and author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran and the U.S. Reza Aslan is the author of How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror.

Wilders! 5

Tot nu toe blijkt niemand in staat Wilders een effectief weerwoord te kunnen geven. Hoe komt dat? Ik denk dat het antwoord het feit is dat diepgewortelde rancune niet bestreden kan worden met rationele argumenten. Het is het probleem van de democratie, zoals die door de Amerikaanse historicus Daniel Boorstin in zijn essaybundel 'Hidden History. Exploring our secret past' als volgt is omschreven: 'One of the tendencies of democracy... is the danger that rhetoric would displace or at least overshadow epistemology; that is, the temptation to allow the problem of persuasion to overshadow the problem of knowledge. Democratic societies tend to become more concerned with what people believe than with what is true, to become more concerned with credibility than with truth.' Vandaar dat een parlementaire democratie zo gemakkelijk in fascisme kan eindigen. De kapitalistische democratie heeft geen antwoord op de eeuwige rancune van de onderkaste, van de mensen die zich gebruikt voelen, die zich het slachtoffer voelen van een systeem dat ze niet echt met hun verstand begrijpen, maar wel met hun onderbuik voelen.

Ik geef u een voorbeeld. Om de zoveel tijd krijg ik reacties als deze: 'Anoniem zei, Overigen hoef ik maar EEN letter tussen de 1e en 2e letter van je naam in te zetten om de anti-christ/mens alhier over je despotisme te exposen! Is dat wat je wil satan?' Kenmerkend aan de reacties van de rancuneuzen is dat ze geen rationele argumenten hebben om hun haat in te gieten. Ondanks of beter nog juist dankzij de alomtegenwoordige massamedia is de constatering van de Britse auteur John Berger correct dat ‘er grote delen van de… arbeiders en middenklasse bestaan die zich niet helder kunnen uitdrukken als gevolg van de grootscheepse culturele deprivatie. De middelen om datgene wat ze weten te vertalen in gedachten is hen ontnomen… Ze bezitten geen voorbeelden die ze kunnen volgen, waarbij woorden ervaringen duidelijk maken.’ En dus blijft alleen schelden over, en altijd anoniem, want door een diep geworteld minderwaardigheidscomplex durven de rancuneuzen alleen vanuit de schaduw te opereren. Ze zijn identiteitslozen in een massacultuur die niet naar hen luistert, waarin ze alleen de rol van toeschouwer hebben toebedeeld gekregen. Het punt is nu dat deze mensen niet naar argumenten en feiten luisteren om de simpele reden dat ze niet willen luisteren. Ze kunnen niet meer luisteren, ze hebben teveel geluisterd, te veel gehoorzaamd. Ze voelen zich veronachtzaamd, vernederd en ze zijn ook vernederd. Op tv worden ze als vee behandeld. Iedere avond weer krijgen ze te zien dat de wereld van anderen is en dat zij slechts te gehoorzamen hebben, anderen beslissen over hun leven, niet zij zelf. En de logica van dit alles ontgaat hen. Ze willen nu gehoord worden, door iedereen! Ze willen meetellen, ook al hebben ze geen talent en hebben ze in feite niets te vertellen behalve dan hun opgekropte woede, hun haat, hun ressentimenten. Juist omdat ze niets te vertellen hebben, willen ze gehoord worden. Ze willen schelden, fulmineren tot het schuim hen op de lippen staat. Het moet eruit, ze kunnen niets meer accepteren. Ze zijn altijd te verwaarlozen details beschouwd, terwijl hen ondertussen verteld werd dat ze als individuen in een democratie meetellen. Hoe kan men deze gedepriveerden tot zwijgen brengen? Dat kan niet meer. Het enige dat we kunnen hopen is dat ze op den duur weer verdwijnen. Maar dat gebeurt natuurlijk pas nadat ze eerst een geweldig bloedbad hebben aangericht. Zo leert ons de geschiedenis.

vrijdag 26 juni 2009

Roots 5

Michael Jackson, met een lijkbleek gezicht, strevend wit te worden, de kleur van de onschuld, omringd door demonen.

Meer dan twee pagina's van de 8 redactionele pagina's besteedt de NRC vanavond aan de dood van Michael Jackson. De krant opent ermee. Dat is dus meer dan 25 procent van de informatie van de krant die claimt de slijpsteen voor de geest te zijn. Dat is immens veel meer dan de andere 'kwaliteitskranten' in de wereld, zelfs meer dan de Amerikaanse 'kwaliteitskranten'. Hoe is dat te verklaren? Meer dan 25 procent aan amusement, en toch beweren dat men een 'kwaliteitskrant' is. Over een halve eeuw zal de mensheid zich afvragen hoe het komt dat de zogeheten 'politiek literaire elite' in de polder (Hofland) in 2009 zo verblind was dat men het ware nieuws niet zag en het shownieuws wel.

Naar aanleiding van Roots 4 kreeg ik deze reacties:

Sonja zei

Door eeuwen van racistische reclame?

Pears' Soap: 'The formula of British Conquest'

Gold Dust Washing Powder

SAPOLIO

Pears' Soap: The White Man's Burden
"Pears' Soap is a potent factor in brightening the dark corners of the earth as civilization advances, while amongst the cultured of all nations it holds the highest place - it is the ideal toilet soap."

Pears Soap

Nigger Joe's Tar Soap

Pears' Soap

Nigger Boy Licorice cigarettes

My skin is dark but my heart is white

Sheet Music: "All coons look alike to me"

Furniture: "All coons look alike to me"

Hedendaagse schoonheidstips:
How to Lighten Black Skin (video)
"Complexion Enhancement" Save and Lighten your Black skin naturally and safely with Makari

ABC News: Senegal's Fashion Victims (+video)
In richer countries people are increasingly comfortable, and successful, regardless of their natural skin color, but in many African countries like Senegal, trying to change one's skin color is still seen as a way to get ahead.

"Some Senegalese women," Emilie, a student at Dakar University, told ABC News, "are trying to look like the white girls they see on television."

African American Skin Bleaching on Oprah - Skin Whitening Tips For Afro-Americans Revealed

"African American skins are different from others. They face more problems as compared to the rest skin types. They suffer with a lot of melanin pigment that often makes you look darker."

Uit een andere Skin Bleaching commercial: "WE CARE ABOUT YOUR SKIN!"

Of: "Consider skin bleaching similar to getting a tan in a tanning salon."
1:11 PM
Sonja zei

Oprah interviews Michael Jackson (Feb 10, 1993):

Oprah: OK, then let's go to the thing that is most discussed about you, that is, the color of your skin...is most obviously different than when you were younger, and so I think it has caused a great deal of speculation and controversy as to what you have done or are doing, are you bleaching your skin, and is your skin getting lighter because you don't like being black?

Michael: Number one, as far as I know of there is no such thing as skin bleaching. I have never seen it, I don't know what it is.

Oprah: Well they used to have those products, I remember growing up always hearing "always use bleach and glow", but you have to have about 300,000 gallons.

Michael: OK, but number one, this is the situation. I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of my skin, it's something that I cannot help, OK? But when people make up stories that I don't want to be what I am it hurts me.

Oprah: So it is...

Michael: It's a problem for me that I can't control...but what about all the millions of people who sit out in the sun, to become darker, to become other than what they are. No one says nothing about that.

Oprah: So when did this start? When did your...when did the color of your skin start to change?

Michael: Oh boy, I don't....sometime after Thriller, around Off The Wall, Thriller, sometime around then.

Oprah: But what did you think?

Michael: It's in my family, my father said it's on his side. I can't control it, I don't understand. I mean it makes me very sad. I don't want to go into my medical history because that is private, but that's the situation here.

Oprah: So OK, I just want to get this straight, you are not taking anything to change the color of your skin?

Michael: Oh God no, we tried to control it and using make-up evens it out because it makes blotches on my skin. I have to even out my skin. But you know what's funny, why is that so important? That's not important to me. I'm a great fan of art. I love Michaelangelo, if I had a chance to talk to him or read about him I would want to know what inspired him to become who he is, the anatomy of his craftsmanship, not about who he went out with last night....what's wrong with....I mean that's what is important to me.

Oprah: How much plastic surgery have you had?

Michael: Very, very little. I mean you can count on my two fingers. I mean let's say this, if you want to know about those things, all the nosey people in the world, read my book Moonwalk, it's in my book. You know, let's put it this way, if all the people in Hollywood who have had plastic surgery, if they went on vacation, there wouldn't be a person left in town.

Oprah: Mmmm, I think you might be right.

Michael: I think I am right. It would be empty.

Oprah: Did you start having plastic surgery because of those teen years because of not liking the way you looked?

Michael: No, not really. It was only two things. Really, get my book, it's no big deal.

Oprah: You don't want to tell me what it is? You had your nose done, obviously...

Michael: Yeah, but so did a lot of people that I know.

Oprah: And so, when you hear all these things about you, and there have been more...

Michael: I've never had my cheekbones done, never had my eyes done, never had my lips done and all this stuff, they just go too far...

Oprah: Are you pleased with the way you...

Michael: I'm never pleased with anything, I'm a perfectionist, it's part of who I am.

Oprah: And so when you look in the mirror now and see the image that looks back at you are there days when you say I kinda like this, or I like the way my hair...

Michael: No, I'm nev...

Oprah: ....or I'm kinda cute today...

Michael: ...(giggles)...cute today....no, I'm never pleased with myself. No, I try not to look in the mirror.
1:13 PM
André zei

Ik herinner mij ook de "zwarte" zwarte grap: is er eindelijk een wereldberoemde neger, wil hij op een witte vrouw lijken.
http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Jackson.html
Tja...
1:18 PM
Sonja zei

Deze is erg: "Successful people use AMBI" (etalage Malawi 1968)

Reclame in bushokje Afrika

Reclame India

Ghana
1:26 PM
André zei

@Sonja
Wat een verzameling...
En dan is Pears Soap een product van Unilever, opvolger van de United Africa Company die de diverse Britse koloniën op de Afrikaanse westkust heeft "gemaakt" ("Nigeria" vooral).

Je moet toch maar durven, als je bedenkt dat zeep een Arabische uitvinding is...

Of al die beelden bij Michael Jackson een rol gespeeld hebben - hij zal het niet meer vertellen.
1:38 PM
Sonja zei

Ik denk dat die gozer gewoon totaal verknipt was André, in elk aspect van zijn leven. Hij liet bijvoorbeeld ook zijn kinderen mondkapjes dragen. Waarom?
2:04 PM
Sam zei

Tsjonge die advertenties. Wat een trieste wereld leven we in zeg. Makers van deze producten en advertenties mogen van mij aan de hoogste boom opgeknoopt worden.
2:37 PM
Sonja zei

Ik heb wel eens een poster ontworpen met de tekst: If you can spell it, we sell it. Met een foto van een meisje dat DEATH op een schoolbrod schrijft.
3:30 PM
Ismael zei

Malcolm X geeft een verklaring: "You can't hate the roots of a tree and not hate yourself."


Ik denk dat Sonja deels gelijk heeft. Deels, want ze geeft in feite een beschrijving, geen verklaring. Het is waar dat in een consumptiematschappij identiteiten kunstmatig worden gekweekt en vervolgens gekocht en verkocht. De vraag is alleen waarom een dergelijke talentvolle zwarte zijn roots en zijn eigen identiteit verloochende? Waarom was zijn talent, zijn vermogen om iets te scheppen vanuit zijn eigen achtergrond niet voldoende? Hoe komt het dat onze cultuur zo dwangmatig is dat zelfs een zo talentvolle man als Michael Jackson, zielloos werd? Waarom verliep zijn leven zo tragisch? Zou het komen doordat wij niet meer in staat zijn het tragische onder ogen te zien? Of zoals Kundera schreef: 'De grote menselijke conflicten bevrijden van de naïeve interpretatie als een strijd tussen goed en kwaad, ze begrijpen in het licht van het tragische, was een enorme prestatie van de geest; het bracht de onvermijdelijke relativiteit naar voren van menselijke waarheden.' Waarom kunnen we nu niet meer relativeren? Het absolute geluk bestaat niet, net zomin als het absolute ongeluk. Waarom kunnen we dit niet meer accepteren? Wij zijn slechts toeschouwers van een werkelijkheid die we niet echt begrijpen. Dat maakt ons lot zo tragisch.

John Berger schrijft in Stemverheffing: ‘Consumptie en communicatie zijn tegenwoordig verenigd in een diabolische vennootschap, en uit deze vennootschap bestaat datgene wat wij kennen als de media. Eerst en vooral vertegenwoordigen de media een economisch contract waardoor alles wat er in de wereld gebeurt wordt gekoppeld aan het mechanisme van de verkoop… Als het koor in een Griekse tragedie besefte dat het machteloos stond tegenover wat er gebeurde, dan was dat voor de koorleden geen reden tot wrok. Ze zochten geen oplossingen voor wat er gebeurd was maar uitdrukkingsmiddelen. Hun machteloosheid werd verzacht door hun besef te worden aangesproken als getuigen die vanuit hun eigen ervaring vragen konden stellen en commentaar konden leveren en hoop konden koesteren en die, zodra ze het bespeurden, het tragische konden benoemen als tragisch… In het Griekse theater bracht het tragische iedereen tot nederigheid… Er zijn tal van waarheden waarvoor geen directe oplossing bestaat. Het woord “oplossing” raakt niet aan het tragische. Wij moeten in aanraking komen met het tragische en ons erdoor laten raken. We zouden er misschien door veranderen als we het benoemden.’

Nederland en Afghanistan 205

Taliban defectors: US, Israel funding militants


Two militants' leaders who defected from notorious Taliban chief in Pakistan have revealed that their comrade was pursuing a US-Israeli agenda across the country.


A prominent militant leader, Turkistan Bittani, who broke away from Baitullah Mehsud, called him "an American agent".


Mehsud, a warlord in his late 30s, has claimed responsibility for dozens of devastating string attacks on both civilians and security forces throughout the feared region.


Moreover, Baetani emphasized that Mehsud was being funded by US and Israeli intelligence services for brainwashing innocent youths.


The insurgents' chief has recruited several teenagers who have carried out dozens of suicide attacks on Pakistani mosques and educational institutes over some past months.


Baetani also noted that al-Qaeda and Taliban's leadership was never targeted in the dozens of US drone strikes in the country's troubled north-west region.


Another defector, Qari Zainuddin, said that Mehsud had established strong links with Israeli intelligence services which were destabilizing the nuclear armed country. "These people (Mehsud and his men) are working against Islam."


Insurgents have stepped up their attacks on civilian and religious centers in major cities across Pakistan which has fueled anti-Taliban sentiments among the Pakistani people.


The US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 has prompted militants to focus their attention across the border in Pakistan, turning the restive tribal belt between the two neighbors into a scene of daily violence.


The US invaded Afghanistan more than seven years ago to allegedly eradicate insurgency and arrest Taliban and al Qaeda leaders.

Zie: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14022

Honger in de Wereld 10


18 juni j.l. konden de NRC-lezers het volgende  vernemen:

'Voedseltop Rome was alleen voor de bühne'
Hoogleraar duurzame ontwikkeling Rabbinge over einde van snelle stijging voedselprijzen

Hans van der Lugt

Interview Interview | Donderdag 18-06-2009 | Sectie: Economie | Pagina: 14 | Hans van der Lugt

De snelle stijging van de voedselprijzen van een jaar geleden lijkt een incident te zijn geweest. De komende tien jaar stijgen de prijzen hooguit 10 à 20 procent, verwachten FAO en OESO.

Wereldleiders kwamen een jaar geleden bijeen in Rome voor een speciale top over de voedselcrisis. De graanprijzen waren in korte tijd verdubbeld, armen konden zich geen voedsel meer veroorloven. Het aantal mensen dat honger leed steeg snel richting 1 miljard. Ingrijpen was hard nodig.

Terugkijkend lijken de grote prijsstijgingen een incident te zijn geweest, al resteert de honger als groeiend probleem en worden de dure beloften uit Rome niet waargemaakt. De komende tien jaar zullen de reële voedselprijzen 10 à 20 procent hoger liggen dan in de periode 1996-2006, stellen de Voedsel en Landbouw Organisatie (FAO) en de club van industrielanden OESO in hun jaarlijkse analyse van de landbouwsector.


Waar het mij nu om gaat is deze zin: 'Terugkijkend lijken de grote prijsstijgingen een incident te zijn geweest.'  Een incident dus, volgens Van Dale: 'onvoorziene gebeurtenis.'  Hoe onvoorzien waren die stijgingen van de voedselprijzen wanneer een vooraanstaande bankier drie jaar geleden kennissen van mij adviseerde onmiddellijk te beleggen in land aangezien de voedselprijzen zouden gaan stijgen?  Ik bedoel, dit moet ook de deskundigen hebben geweten. Waarom verzwegen ze het? Die honger wordt bewust in stand gehouden en het aantal slachtoffers blijft toenemen, net als de vetzucht in het Westen.


Iran 300


Layla Anwar - A Thousand Nedas

Neda Agha Soltani is the name of the young woman assassinated with a bullet in her heart by the Iranian government Basij Militias. No family funeral was allowed for Neda.

Her family and fiancé were interviewed and the video of her ruthless murder has not ceased circulating across the globe…

All the media outlets have been talking about Neda. That is fine with me. But how come no media outlet has spoken of the thousands of Nedas in Iraq that have been brutally murdered by the Iraqi Shiite Militias trained, armed and funded by Iran?

Hundreds of Iraqi women have suffered a worst fate than that of Neda, and only in total 3 articles and a couple of videos were circulated in their names. Not even.

Why?

Are we the black sheep of the international community? Or maybe we are just the children of Hagar, who Sarah, Abraham's first wife, banished away from the tribe…and Hagar was left wandering in a merciless desert for Water…searching for anything to quench her thirst…

Excuse me, but why is Neda more important?

Is it because Iraq is a "fait accompli", a done deal that no one cares to talk about anymore?

Not so. Not in my book. Never in my book.

The charade in Iran will calm down. Musavi has retreated. The protesters will eventually shut up. And everything will return to normal. Everything will return to the status quo.

Why is that? Because America has every interest to keep the status quo intact in Iran despite the rhetoric to the contrary.

How come? Because as I previously mentioned in one my latest posts, Obama has been having direct talks with Khameini - the "supreme guide".

Why is that so? Because Iran is still needed in Iraq and sorely needed in Afghanistan.

What is it needed for?

In Iraq: to finish off any form of resistance to the occupation as it has done in the past, to ensure the continuity of the American occupation, to root out "saddamists", to keep the lid on its militias until further notice, to activate them when needed, to ensure that the puppet government tows the American line and delivers the oil deals, to keep supporting the Kurds in their separatist/secessionist ambitions, to ensure that the partition plan will keep unfolding despite and in spite of the official claims to the contrary…

And lately, Iran has been calling Great Britain "the Great Satan" — no longer America. All analysis confirm that Obama's criticisms of the Iranian clamp down is mitigated, weighed with caution…and with " balance"

Great Britain will play for a while the role of that "Great Satan", and while all eyes are turned to Iran, the real stuff will be happening in Iraq…

What real stuff?

More ethnic/sectarian cleansing. The grounds are being prepared by the so called "Al-Qaeda" which has been allegedly targeting Shiites strongholds . Every other day, a few dozen die in some blast and in "predominantly Shiite" areas…

Everyone knows in Baghdad, forget the Green Zone - am talking of the Red Zone here, and everyone knows in the Red Zone, that Iran and America are behind Al-Qaeda in Iraq. And some would even say, it is Iran funding Al-Qaeda elements in Iraq. A permanent state of insecurity/instability. The carrot and the stick for the Americans - forcing them to reckon with Iran's actual sphere of influence and maneuvering in Iraq.

But Iran hardly needs to do that. The above is just a constant reminder…
It hardly needs to do that because ALL of the major players in the Iraqi puppet government of the American occupation are DUAL Iraqi Iranian nationals. And to give you just a few examples.

- Maliki himself is one and has 60 Iranian advisers in his cabinet.

- The ministry of Interior is run by Iranians and sectarian Shiites Iraqis whose main loyalties lie with Qum.

- The Ministries of Health and Education are run by pro Iranians.

- The Ministry of Finance is run by an Iranian - Solagh Jabr. He is the ex minister of Interior and he kept his men in place there. The ministry of Interior is STILL a torture dungeon in its basements.

- The Ministry of oil is run by an Iranian - Al-Sharistani.

De Commerciele Massamedia 219



De auteur Herman Franke schrijft in de NRC van gisteren over de hypocrisie en propaganda van de commerciele massamedia het volgende: 

'Mousavi, die volgens de berichten een oud-lid van het keiharde Khomeiny-bewind is, zou zelf het bloed van meer dan één meisje aan zijn handen hebben, maar die lastige nuance doet er kennelijk even niet toe, evenmin als de mogelijkheid dat de Iraniërs wel degelijk in meerderheid op Ahmadinejad hebben gestemd. Waarom zouden de Iraniërs in Teheran de Khomeiny-leus (‘Allah is groot’) van de daken schreeuwen als ze voor westerse vormen van democratie zouden zijn, wat in de media gesuggereerd wordt? … Zo is mij in de loop der jaren opgevallen dat we na 9/11 en de aanslag in Madrid honderden pasfoto’s te zien kregen van slachtoffers, met vermelding van persoonlijke details, terwijl er geen serie foto’s werd afgedrukt van de onschuldige burgerslachtoffers in Tsjetsjenië, Irak of de Gazastrook… Elke keer als een van onze jongens sneuvelt in Afghanistan krijgen wij een foto te zien, lezen wij een naam en zien wij het verdriet van zijn dierbaren. De Talibaan-daders worden ‘laf’ genoemd en ‘barbaars’. Nooit zien wij foto’s van onschuldige Afghaanse vrouwen en kinderen die aan stukken gereten zijn door onze ‘laffe’ bombardementen of beschietingen, laat staan dat we hun naam en persoonlijke details te weten komen… Het gaat mij er om dat het invoelbaar maken van het leed van slachtoffers in politieke conflicten de meningsvorming sterk beïnvloedt, dat er stemming mee gemaakt wordt en dat er eventuele vergeldingsacties mee worden goedgekeurd of zelfs aangemoedigd. Het is een instrument in de besluitvorming. Regeringen en hun ‘spindoctors’ weten dat. Ze hebben steeds betere middelen om de aandacht te vestigen op het slachtofferleed waarbij ze een belang hebben… Van de druk die op de massamedia wordt uitgeoefend om het ene leed wel en het andere niet uit te vergroten, hoort de redactie van een kwaliteitskrant zich bewust te zijn... Als schrijver ben ik gewend me in te leven in personages, ook in onsympathieke personages, wanneer het verhaal dat ik wil vertellen dat nodig heeft. Elk politiek conflict is ook een verhaal. De slachtoffers daarvan moeten erop kunnen rekenen dat journalisten zich inleven in hun ellende – ook de onwelgevallige slachtoffers.'



Roots 4


Michael Jackson is dood. Een van de grootste muzikanten ooit is 50 jaar geworden. Michael Jackson had soul, maar was tegelijkertijd een zwarte die zo blank mogelijk eruit wilde zien, met als gevolg dat zijn leven tragisch werd. Net als Iraanse vrouwen uit de middenklasse hun neus laten opereren om het reukorgaan zo Westers mogelijk te maken, probeerde ook Jackson een blanke neus te hebben en een blanke huid, en het haar van een blanke, met zo min mogelijk krullen. Maar een blanke is een blanke en een zwarte is een zwarte. Waarom wilde Michael Jackson met zoveel zwart talent er als een blanke uitzien? Waarom wilde iemand met roots zijn roots verloochenen? Ik heb er nooit een goed artikel over gelezen. U misschien? Laat het me weten. Het fascineert me.

donderdag 25 juni 2009

Henoch met Toeter



Wat een dwaze mensen zijn er toch. Sonja maakte me opmerkzaam op onder andere deze meneer met grappige toeter, die denkt dat joden in Israel het internationaal recht mogen schenden omdat hun en zijn luchtgod dit zo heeft verordonneert. Ook deze fundamentalisten bestan, nota bene op de site van onze katholieke minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Maxime Verhagen:

'posted by Henoch 2009 about 6 hours ago

Ook zegt God (de Here) nog:

Ezechiël 34,13

Ik zal ze (de Joden/Israëlieten) midden uit de volken doen uittrekken, uit de landen bijeenvergaderen en ze naar hun eigen land brengen; Ik zal ze weiden op de bergen van Israël (Judea & Samaria/Westbank) , bij de beekbeddingen en in alle bewoonde streken van het land.

Ezechiël 34,14

In een goede weide zal Ik ze (de Joden/Israëlieten) weiden, en op de hoge bergen van Israël (Judea & Samaria/Westbank) zal hun weideplaats zijn. Daar zullen zij zich legeren (vestigen.nederzetten) op een goede weideplaats en zullen zij in een vette weide grazen, op de bergen van Israël.

http://www.mobypicture.com/user/maximeverhagen/view/300427

Wie is deze volwassen meneer met toeter? Hij noemt zich Henoch: In de Bijbel komen twee personen voor die Henoch heten. Eén is de zoon van Kaïn. De ander is een voorvader van Noach, die 365 jaar oud werd. Deze Henoch is één van de weinige mensen die niet is gestorven. Genesis 5:24 vermeldt: 'En Henoch wandelde met God, en hij was niet meer, want God had hem opgenomen'. Dat hij wandelde met God duidt op een intieme omgang met God.[1]

In oude Arabische geschriften is Henoch de vader van de legendarische koning Kaju Marath (de Bijbelse Methusalah) die de koning van de aarde wordt genoemd. Deze Marath had alle kennis van de ware God uit de boeken van de profeet Idris (Henoch) gehaald.

Zie: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henoch

Het is niet te bewijzen dat we hier te maken hebben met de Henoch die niet gestorven is. Daarentegen kunnen we het ook niet met zekerheid ontkennen. Opvallend is wel dat Maxime Verhagen dit slag extremisten aantrekt. Hoe zou dat toch komen?

Henoch schrijft ook dit: Netanyahu heeft echter onlangs terecht verklaart op de Bar-Ilan Universiteit, dat geheel Jeruzalem [incl. Oost-Jeruzalem] de eeuwig ongedeelde hoofstad van Israël en onder Joods bestuur zal blijven! En u Minister Verhagen verklaart doodleuk voor de NOS-camera dat voor het Nederlands Kabinet Oost-Jeruzalem als 'bezet gebied' geacht wordt. Hoe kunt u deze uitspraak doen, terwijl uw coalitie-genoot de ChristenUnie mij laat weten het zo niet te zien, en voor een ongedeeld Jeruzalem is? Ik wil dat hier Kamervragen over gesteld gaan worden!

Ik trouwens ook, want sinds wanneer steunt een democratische partij schendingen van het recht? Dat soort extremisme kan niet door volksvertegenwoordigers worden gepropageerd. Diefstal is en blijft in strijd met de wet. Wanneer de ChristenUnie-volksvertegenwoordigers worden bestolen, verwachten ze toch ook hulp van de politie. De dief kan zich toch niet beroepen op zijn god? En wie weet wat die god hem allemaal ingefluisterd heeft.


De Holocaust Industrie

Israeli Firms Accused of Profiting Off Holocaust

 

Families Battle for Assets in Court

 

By JONATHAN COOK

Counterpunch

June 25, 2009

 
Israel’s second largest bank will be forced to defend itself in court in the coming weeks over claims it is withholding tens of millions of dollars in “lost” accounts belonging to Jews who died in the Nazi death camps.

 Bank Leumi has denied it holds any such funds despite a parliamentary committee revealing in 2004 that the bank owes at least $75 million to the families of several thousand Holocaust victims.

 

Analysts said the bank’s role is only the tip of an iceberg in which Israeli companies and state bodies could be found to have withheld billions of dollars invested by Holocaust victims in the country -- dwarfing the high-profile reparations payouts from such European countries as Switzerland.

 

“All I want is justice,” said David Hillinger, 73, whose grandfather, Aaron, died in Auschwitz, a Nazi camp in Poland. Lawyers are demanding reparations of $100,000 for Bank Leumi accounts held by his father and grandfather.

 

The allegations against Bank Leumi surfaced more than a decade ago following research by Yossi Katz, an Israeli historian.

 

He uncovered bank correspondence in the immediate wake of the Second World War in which it cited “commercial secrecy” as grounds for refusing to divulge the names of account holders who had been killed in the Holocaust.

 

“I was shocked,” said Dr Katz, from Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv. “My first reaction was: ‘My God, this isn’t Switzerland!’ ”

 

In 1998, following widespread censure, Swiss banks agreed to pay $1.25 billion in reparations after they there were accused of having profited from the dormant accounts of Holocaust victims.

 

Dr Katz’s revelations led to the establishment of a parliamentary committee in 2000 to investigate the behaviour of Israel’s banks. Its report came to light belatedly in 2004 after Bank Leumi put pressure on the government to prevent publication.

 

Investigators found thousands of dormant accounts belonging to Holocaust victims in several banks, though the lion’s share were located at Bank Leumi. Obstructions from Leumi meant many other account holders had probably not been identified, the investigators warned.

 

The parliamentary committee originally estimated the accounts it had located to be worth more than $160m, using the valuation formula applied to the Swiss banks. But under pressure from Leumi and the government, it later reduced the figure by more than half.

 

A restitution company was created in 2006 to search for account holders and return the assets to their families.

 

Meital Noy, a spokeswoman for the company, said it had been forced to begin legal proceedings this week after Bank Leumi had continued to claim that its findings were “baseless”.

 

The bank paid $5m two years ago in what it says was a “goodwill gesture”. Ms Noy called the payment “a joke”. She said 3,500 families, most of them in Israel, were seeking reparations from Bank Leumi.

 

The bank was further embarrassed by revelations in 2007 that one per cent of its shares -- worth about $80 million -- belonged to tens of thousands of Jews killed during the Holocaust.

 

Mr Hillinger, who was born in Belgium in 1936 and spent the Second Wold War hiding in southern France, today lives in Petah Tikva in central Israel.

 

He said before the outbreak of war his father and grandfather had invested money in the Anglo-Palestine Bank, the forerunner of Leumi, in the hope it would gain them a visa to what was then British-ruled Palestine.

 

Although his parents escaped the death camps, his grandparents were sent to Auschwitz and died in the gas chambers shortly after arrival.

 

Mr Hillinger said he had only learnt of the outstanding debt from Bank Leumi after his father, Moses, died in 1996. Papers showed the bank had paid his father “a pittance” in 1952 when he closed his account and that it had never returned his grandfather’s money.

 

When he wrote to Bank Leumi in 1998, it denied his grandfather had ever opened an account.

 

“My grandfather died because he was a Jew, and it is shameful that other Jews are exploiting his death,” he said. “We need to wake people up about this.”

 

A quarter of a million Holocaust survivors are reported to be in Israel, with one-third of them living in poverty, according to welfare organisations.

 

Shraga Elam, an Israeli investigative financial journalist based in Zurich, said after the war many Israelis showed little sympathy for the European Jewish refugees who arrived in Israel.

 

“David Ben Gurion [Israel’s first prime minister] notoriously called them ‘human dust’, and I remember as children we referred to them as sabonim, the Hebrew word for soap,” he said, in reference to the rumoured Nazi practice of making soap from Jewish corpses.

 

“In fact, I can’t think of any place in the world where [Holocaust] survivors are as badly treated as they are in Israel,” Mr Elam said.

 

He said Bank Leumi’s “lost” accounts were only a small fraction of Holocaust assets held by Israeli companies and the Israeli state that should have been returned. The total could be as much as $20bn.

 

He said European Jews had invested heavily in Palestine in the pre-war years, buying land, shares and insurance policies and opening bank accounts. During the Second World War Britain seized most of these assets as enemy property because the owners were living in Nazi-occupied lands.

 

In 1950 Britain repaid some $1.4 million to the new state of Israel, which was supposed to make reparations to the original owners.

 

However, little effort was made to trace them or, in the case of those who died in the Holocaust, their heirs. Instead the Israeli government is believed to have used the funds to settle new immigrants in Israel.

 

“These are huge assets, including real estate in some of the most desirable parts of Israel,” Mr Elam said.

 

Last year the Israeli media reported an investigation showing that the finance ministry destroyed its real estate files in the 1950s, apparently to conceal the extent of the state’s holding of Holocaust assets.

 

The case against Bank Leumi may end the generally muted criticism inside Israel of the banks’ role. Officials and even the families themselves have been concerned about the damage the case might do to Israel’s image as the guardian of Jewish interests.

 

In 2003 Ram Caspi, Bank Leumi’s lawyer, used such an argument before the parliamentary committee, warning its members that the US media “will say the Israeli banks also hide money, not just the Swiss”.

 

Organisations that led the campaign for reparations from European banks, such as the Jewish Claims Conference and the World Jewish Restitution Organisation, have also downplayed the role of the Israeli banks.

 

A shorter version of this article originally appeared in The National (www.thenational.ae), published in Abu Dhabi.

De Westerse Terreur 28


De BBC en Amnesty Intyernational spreken van 'abuses'. In feite gaat het om martelen dat zelfs tot de dood leidt.

Detainees Were Also Murdered at Bagram in Afghanistan

A new report documenting the torture of more than two-dozen former prisoners held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2008 comes several months after a bipartisan Congressional committee linked the murder of two detainees held at the same prison facility to policies enacted by George W. Bush and ex-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
The April report released by the Senate Armed Services Committee on the treatment of prisoners held in US custody in Iraq and Afghanistan concluded that a combination of various torture techniques coupled with a series of brutal beatings administered by military interrogators caused the deaths of the two prisoners in December 2002. One of the detainees, identified in the report as Dilawar, was the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side."

According to the Armed Services Committee report, another detainee identified as Habibullah was killed two days after Rumsfeld authorized the use of "enhanced interrogation" techniques against prisoners in Afghanistan. Dilawar was murdered six days after Habibullah was killed. The report labeled their deaths homicides.

According to a detailed account in 2005 in The New York Times, Dilawar, a taxi driver, was apprehended December 5 by US forces and taken to Bagram and interrogated about a rocket attack on an American base.

Dilawar was chained by his wrists to the ceiling of his cell for four days and brutally beaten by Army interrogators on his legs for hours on end to the point where he could no longer bend them. He died on December 10, 2002.

Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rouse, an Air Force medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Dilawar, said Dilawar's leg was pummeled so badly that the "tissue was falling apart and had basically been pulpified."

"Had Dilawar lived," Rouse told Army investigators in sworn testimony, "I believe the injury to the legs are so extensive that it would have required amputation. I've seen similar injuries in an individual run over by a bus."
Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/062509A

De Israelische Terreur 890

Carter says Palestinians being treated ‘like animals’

BY RAW STORY

Published: June 16, 2009


Former US president Jimmy Carter on Tuesday met Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in the Gaza Strip, where he called for a lifting of Israel’s blockade, saying Palestinians are being treated “like animals.”

Following the talks, Carter called for an end of “all violence” against both Israelis and Palestinians.

“This is holy land for us all and my hope is that we can have peace… all of us are children of Abraham,” he said at a joint news conference with Haniya, prime minister of the Hamas government in the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas, a group pledged to the destruction of Israel which violently seized power in Gaza two years ago, is listed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United States and the European Union.

Carter was expected to pass on a letter from the parents of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier seized by Gaza militants including Hamas in a cross-border raid almost three years ago, and who remains in captivity.

Earlier Carter denounced the Israeli blockade and the destruction wrought by its 22-day military offensive against Gaza in December and January.

“My primary feeling today is one of grief and despair and an element of anger when I see the destruction perpetrated against innocent people,” Carter said as he toured the impoverished territory.

“Tragically, the international community too often ignores the cries for help and the citizens of Palestine are treated more like animals than like human beings,” he said.

“The starving of 1.5 million human beings of the necessities of life — never before in history has a large community like this been savaged by bombs and missiles and then denied the means to repair itself,” Carter said at a UN school graduation ceremony in Gaza City.

The United States and Europe “must try to do all that is necessary to convince Israel and Egypt to allow basic goods into Gaza,” he said.

“At same time, there must be no more rockets” from Gaza into Israel, said Carter, who brokered the historic 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

“I have to hold back tears when I see the deliberate destruction that has been wracked against your people,” he said at a destroyed American school, saying it was “deliberately destroyed by bombs from F16s made in my country.”

Israel’s offensive killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and left large swathes of the coastal strip sandwiched between Israel and Egypt in ruins. Thirteen Israelis also died in the conflict.

“I feel partially responsible for this as must all Americans and Israelis,” Carter said.

Israel has insisted that the Gaza blockade, which bars all but essential humanitarian supplies from entering the enclave, is necessary to prevent Hamas from arming, but human rights groups have slammed it as collective punishment.

Shortly after entering Gaza, Carter’s convoy of white UN 4×4 vehicles stopped briefly in the area of Ezbet Abed Rabbo, one of the most ravaged during the Israeli onslaught at the turn of the year.

The massive destruction in the area has made it a regular stop for the succession of foreign dignitaries who have come to Gaza since the war.

As Carter briefly emerged from his vehicle to look at the damage, one resident ran up, yelling that he wanted to talk to the former US leader, and getting into a brief shoving match with bodyguards.

“They all come here and look at us like we’re animals and then they go home,” said Majid Athamna. “We’re not animals, we’re human beings.”

“If he wants to come and visit us, he has to listen to us.”

Zie: http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/06/16/carter-says-palestinians-being-treated-like-animals/

Roots 3

Als tiener al wisten mijn vrienden ik dat de roots uit onze blanke cultuur verdwenen waren. En hoe we ook zochten, we vonden die niet terug. Wat was het om Nederlander te zijn? Mijn moeder was Schotse, ik groeide op met de wereldliteratuur, de muziek waar ik van hield was gebaseerd op de blues. En mijn gevoel werd verwoord door Robert Allen Zimmerman, zoon van een joodse vader die uit de Oekraine was gevlucht voor de christelijke pogroms.  

Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

When you're lost in the rain in Juarez

And it's Eastertime too

And your gravity fails
And negativity don't pull you through
Don't put on any airs
When you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue
They got some hungry women there
And they really make a mess outa you

Robert Zimmerman alias Bob Dylan.

Welke westerse cultuur, mijn vriend?

De Israelische Terreur 889




Anzi wees me op het volgende:

'The Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund (JHF) started operating in 2002. The Foundation was established as a result of the negotiations on Jewish war claims in the Netherlands. In the settlement between the Dutch Jewish community, the Dutch Jews in Israel, and the Dutch government, it was agreed to allocate part of the Dutch government's contribution toward a fund supporting projects dedicated to restoring Jewish life in former communist countries, providing Jewish education, promoting mutual respect between people, and supporting civilian victims in war zones. The award policy of the Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund is based on the principles of human rights and tzedakah. Tzedakah is not a privilege but a right. The aim of tzedakah is to establish a just society.These principles are embedded in the Jewish tradition. In Leviticus XIX (9) is the admonition "not [to] wholly reap the corners of thy field" but to leave them for the poor. The JHF logo (a rectangle with a corner cut off) symbolizes these values.

Support to Jews in Central and Eastern Europe

Nazi persecution and oppression by communist dictatorships were a double blow to the Jews in Central and Eastern Europe, after the defeat of the Soviet Union, the Jews are trying to restore their communities, thereby perpetuating two thousand years of Jewish existence in their countries. The JHF welcomes efforts to establish and enrich Jewish life.The JHF aims to support projects dedicated to filling the "social and cultural void" in these Jewish communities by helping to rebuild the social and cultural structures that were destroyed with the deaths of millions of Jews during the Holocaust. Hundreds of thousands of Jews have departed for the world centres of Jewry in the United States and Israel. But many have chosen to keep the torch of Jewish life burning in the country of their birth. The JHF strongly believes that Jews who decided to stay in their countries of origin should receive support to assure the continuation of Jewish life.The JHF aims to empower Jews to enhance Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe to help them once again contribute significantly in these regions. It is for this reason that the JHF has a special interest in the younger generation - members of the new generation who will become the leaders, teachers, youth workers, and officials of the future. Organizations and Projects dedicated toward cultivating Jewish values and traditions among the younger generation would serve an explicit JHF objective. JHF has also an interest in strengtening the relationship between the diaspora and Israel.

Co-financing

The JHF supports organizations that have a broad scope and aim to have a significant impact on Jewish communities and small and/or innovative projects. These objectives are more likely to be successful when a project is funded by several organizations. Co-financing will therefore be one of the criteria applied in deciding which organization or which projects will be awarded a grant. Preference will be given to those organizations and projects that can demonstrate counterpart or co-funding commitments.

Who is eligible to apply for a grant?

Organizations should not be registered in the Netherlands. The aim of the organizations or their projects have to be dedicated to one or more of the following causes:

   1. Building and ensuring the continuity of Jewish communities in such areas as culture, knowledge transfer, and enhancement of the non-capital infrastructure;
   2.  Facilitating Jewish education;
   3. Promoting mutual respect between people;
   4. Supporting civilian victims of war situations. 

Organizations cannot have its activities in the Netherlands and may not relate to the Dutch-Jewish community in Israel.

Are grants from the Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund restricted to countries in Central and Eastern Europe?

Grants from the JHF are intended primarily for organizations and projects in or directed towards the former communist countries, with the exception of the former DDR. Support by the JHF of Jewish communities elsewhere in the world may be provided if:

    * a situation gradually or suddenly emerges that is or can be harmful to a Jewish community or to Jewish individuals in a certain region (e.g. outburst of anti-Semitism, political, economic, natural disasters, or other emergency situations);
    * the community itself is not able to meet the financial consequences of the changed situation;
    * there is no support for (or only insufficient support) by governmental or non-governmental organisations whose primary goals are to support such communities or individuals;
    * it is reasonable to expect that financial support would relieve the fate of the community in distress and/or its individual members;
    * the support is in accordance with the mission of the JHF. 

Support by the JHF of civilian victims in a war zone may be provided if:

    * civilians are Jewish and non-Jewish victims of ethnic violence;
    * the violence stricken community itself is not able to meet the financial consequences of the changed situation;
    * there is no support for (or only insufficient support) by governmental or non-governmental organisations whose primary goals are to support such communities or individuals;
    * it is reasonable to expect that financial support would relieve the fate of the community in distress and/or its individual members;
    * a clear relationship exists between the Dutch-Jewish communities in the Netherlands and/or Israel and the communities in distress;
    * the support is in accordance with the mission of the JHF. 

The Disbursable Amount per year of our Foundation shall be sub-divided into three categories as following: 

   1. Thirty percent (30%) of the Total Disbursable Amount shall be set aside for small and/or innovative projects (“Category 1 Grants”);
   2. Sixty percent (60%) of the Total Disbursable Amount shall be set aside for organizational core funding, rather than project funding, to build institutional capacity, financial sustainability and long term development (“Category 2 Grants”);
   3. Ten percent (10%) of the Total Disbursable Amount shall be set aside for projects dedicated to victims of conflict situations (“Category 3 Grants”). 

Applicants can apply for a grant for category 1 and 2 in the same year, but will only be awarded for one of the two categories. 

How to apply for a project grant

Special application forms, for each category are available from the JHF. These forms should be filled out on our website on or before 1 July 2009. This deadline will be strictly adhered to. Applications should be made for core-funding of the organization or for projects to start  after 1 January of the following year. Ordinarily, the Board of the JHF will decide on awards of grants in November of each year. In the Disbursement framework underneath you will find information on the disbursement. 
DISBURSEMENT FRAMEWORK: THREE CATEGORIES
DISBURSEMENT FRAMEWORK CATEGORY 1'

Dit is interessant, want de definitie van humanitair luidt als volgt: 'Het geheel van activiteiten voor de promotie van het welzijn van de mens ongeacht ras, religie, politieke overtuiging en zonder winstbejag.'  
Het spreekt voor zich. Hoe staat nu het Joods Humanitair Fonds tegenover het onrecht dat de Palestijnen wordt aangedaan uit naam van het jodendom? Ik heb het Joods Humanitair Fonds die vraag gesteld: info@jhf.nl 


De Israelische Terreur 888

US Snubs Netanyahu over Settlements

The Obama administration scrapped a scheduled meeting between its Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell and hawkish Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu over his right-wing government's refusal to heed American calls for a settlement freeze.

"Once you've finished the homework we gave you on stopping construction in the settlements, let us know," Israel's Yediot Aharonot daily quoted an Israeli official as outlining Washington's message.

"Until then, there's no point in having Mitchell fly to Paris to meet you."

Mitchell was due to meet Netanyahu during his current visit to France before canceling it.

Netanyahu's aides claimed he cancelled the meeting not the Americans.

"Israel is the one that called off the meeting with Mitchell due to the need to collect data and present them to him in an organized manner," a senior official accompanying Netanyahu told Yediot Aharonot.

"The claim that the Americans canceled the meeting due to a disagreement is unfounded."

US and Israeli, long-time allies, have been at odds over the continued construction of Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian territories.

Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have repeatedly asked Israel for a full freeze on settlement building, including the so-called natural growth.

In a major speech last week, Netanyahu repeated his rejection to such calls and said Israel would continue to expand settlements.

Defiant Israel

The Israeli official played down prospects for a swift breakthrough between Israel and the US on settlements.

"A lot of hard work is needed to reach common ground."

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved on Tuesday, June 23, a plan to construct hundreds of homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"The plan intends to create territorial contiguity between the settlement of Talmon and the Water Reservoir Hill outpost and to enlarge the settlement at the expense of Palestinian villagers in the area," an Israeli right group said in a statement.

This is the second time in the last few months that Barak approves plans for the extension of existing settlements or for new settlements.

Israel is allocating 250 million dollars over the next two years for settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The figure is contained in the 2009-2010 budget, which passed its first reading in the Knesset parliament last week.

The Peace Now anti-settlement watchdog said that the settlement spending in the two-year budget was likely to be higher and spread over several sections of the budget.

More than 280,000 Jewish settlers live in settlements in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in the 1967 war.

Under the internationally-backed roadmap, Israel must freeze all settlement activities, seen as a major obstacle to peace efforts.

The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land illegal.

De Holocaust Is Geen Rechtvaardiging meer Voor Joodse Nazi's

Eitan Bronstein, bezig de geschiedenis van straten, wijken en steden terug te geven aan Palestijnen en daarmee aan de Joden in Israël. . Zev...